Transfer and process of preparing and applying desings



Feb. 13, 1934. Y We, v 1,946,865

TRANSFER AND PROCESS OF PREPARING AND APPLYING DESIGNS Filed Jan. 12,1931 Patented Feb. 13, 1934 TRANSFER AND PROCESS OF PREPABIN ANDAPPLYING DESIGNS Frank Rubin, Wauwatooa, Wis. Application January 12,1981. Serial No. 508.085 2 Claims. (Gail-33) This invention relates toimprovements in transfers and process of preparing and applying designs.

The primary object of this invention is the production of specialdesigns with great economy and convenience. In the practice of thisinvention no manufacturing machinery is necessa y. The economy is suchthat any room may be treated uniquely by, the application of anindividual design thereto at a cost comparable to that now involved inthe application of a conventional design.

More particularly stated, it is my purpose to provide a transfer whichmay be assembledeconomically upon a transparent or translucent base ofsome cheap material such as paraffin paper, from which the design may beremoved freely for application to the surface to be decorated. It is myfurther purpose to provide a transfer which may be used as a mask toproduce novel results economically in the decoration of a given surface.

I further propose to provide a novel transfer film which may be built upto any desired strength and thickness so that it may be han dledindependently of backing material and transferred as desired from onetransfer backing to another.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 shows a series of steps in the manufacture of a transferembodying this invention.

Figure 2 shows a series of steps in the application of the transferdesign to a. surface requiring decoration.

Figure 3 shows a special form of transfer embodying this invention.

Figure 4 shows transfers embodying this invention applied to a surfaceto be decorated to function thereon as a mask.

Figure 5 shows the mask partially removed to complete the decoration ofthe surface illustrated in Figure 4.

.Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughoutthe several views.

One of the important features of the present invention resides in theparticular transfer film which makes possible the use of parafiin paperas a backing material.- Other transfer agents heretofore known havenotbeen adapted for use with paraflin paper either because they wouldnot adhere thereto or because they adhered too tenaciously to enable thepaper to be freed from the transfer without heat or solvents. It isdesirable to use a transparent or at least a translucent backingmaterial in order that the design backing material or support for thetransfer is coated with a transparent carrier '7 to any desiredthickness, according to the purpose for which the article is to be used.The carrier may be applied with a brush or, as shown in Figure 1, it maybe applied by means of a roll 8 turning in a trough 9 containing asupply of the carrier fluid. The paper 6 is held to the surface of theapplicator roll 8 by means of a coacting pressure roll 10.

The carrier preferably employed is a cheap mixing lacquer such as isobtainable from the Berry Varnish Company and other lacquermanufacturers and intended for use, mixed with shellac, by furnituremakers. The utility of this kind of 78 lacquer is derived from itsability to dry almost immediately. More expensive lacquers dry slowlyand tend to adhere too strongly to the paraffin paper. A lacquer of theproper character for the purposes of the present invention willevaporate 80 its low boiling point solvent alcohol and dry in a fewseconds after being applied to the paper as shown in Figure 1. I preferto mix with the lacquer some vegetable oil such as castor oil,China-wood oil or linseed oil, (castor oil preferred) in the proportionof about six ounces of oil to a gallon of lacquer. It is a film made-upvof successive applications of this quick drying fluid which is used as acarrier for the design to be transferred.

For convenience of illustration I have designated the coating 7 oflacquer-by dots in the drawing. It will be understood, however, that thecarrier coating is highly transparent and substantially invisible unlessa colored lacquer is used for 05 certain purposes hereinafter to bedescribed. As a rule it is necessary to build up the carrier film by atleast three applications of lacquer to the backing sheet of paraffinpaper (if For special purposes where the film must be handledindependently of the backing sheet a much greater number of applicationsof lacquer may be made. Eachapplication of lacquer will dry before thenext coat is applied.

Upon the carrier film 7 I print, stencil or otherwise form the desireddesign in any number of operations. In Figure 1 I have shown the blockshaped designs 11 applied in one operation, the complementary blockshaped designs 12 applied in a further operation and a background coat14 v110 2 applied in a final operation. The background pigment mayobscure the color blocks 11 and 12 'ried thereby or to the carrying filmwhich are thus made to appear only in dotted lines in the final view ofFigure 1. It will, of course, be understood that any desired design maybe lettered, printed or stenciled with ink, paint or any other pigmentupon the lacquer carrier film 7, and it will also be obvious that thebackground coat 14 of pigment may be omitted when desired.

The completed transfer is flexible and may be tightly rolled withoutdamage to the pigment car- '7. The carrying film is very tough andprovides excellent support for the pigment comprising the design.

In order to use the transfer, it is only necessary to apply the surface14 to a suitably adhesive surface to be decorated. The transfer may beapplied on tacky varnish or shellac, or paint. In the alternative, theface 14 of the transfer may itself be treated with a suitable adhesive,such as rubber cement or varnish comprising a coating shown at 15 inFigure 2. The adhesive coating 15 is then rubbed smooth in contact withthe surface to be decorated, and the paraffin paper is stripped from thecarrier film 7, leaving the transfer in place on the surface to bedecorated and exposed through the carrier film. The carrier film will besomewhat dull because of its contact with the parafiin, but it may berubbed to a smooth transparent finish through wh ch the transfer deif itwere not covered sign appears as clearly as by the film. Preferably thetransfer and its protecting film, as well as the entire surfacedecorated with the transfer, are varnished after the application of thetransfer.

The lower view in Figure 2 shows the operation of stripping off theparafiin paper to expose the carrier film. It will be noted that thedesign comprising blocks of pigment 11 and 12 is clearly visible throughthe film '2 Although the design illustrated is such that it does notindicate reversal, it will be observed that in fact the blocks ofpigment are being viewed from the opposite side from which they areviewed in Figure 1. Thus it must be remembered that in applying anydesign to the carrier film in the course of the operations illustratedin Figure 1, the design must appear in the reflected image of the formin which it is ultimately to be transferred to the surface to bedecorated. It is only the use of a very quick drying lacquer, as abovenoted, that makes it possible to strip the paraflin paper freely fromthe carrier film '7 in the manner just described.

By repeated coatings of lacquer the carrier film may be built up on thebacking sheet 6 to a thickness and strength such that it may readily behandled independently of said sheet. An interesting application of thisinvention consists in thus rendering the carrier film self supportingand cutting it into letters, symbols or other designs, as shown at 16 inFigure 3. The self supporting film may then be used as a mask, aprotective covering for some other design, or it may itself be appliedto a surface to be decorated. I have found it convenient to use coloredlacquer in the final coating operations in the formation of a film suchas that used as a blank in the preparation of the letter 16. The shadingin Figure 3 indicates color.

I have found that apiece of film'such as that of economical productionand shown at 16 may be temporarily mounted upon any piece 17 of parafiinpaper and may be applied to any adhesive surface. If the surface whichis to receive the design 16 is not of itself adhesive, it may berendered so by treating either the surface or the design 16 withalcohol, which renders the surface of the lacquer film tacky", thuscausing the design 16 to adhere to the surface to which it is applied.This particular fea ture of the invention is useful in lettering glassdoors or windows. The entire inscription to be placed on the door orwindow may be set up in advance by cutting out letters 16 of the propersize, and applying them in their proper order to the temporarysupporting sheet 17. The adhesion of the film to the temporarysupporting sheet is sufficiently light so that the characters may berearranged at will, but the adhesion is sufficiently strong so that theywill not accidentally become displaced. Through the use of a transfer ofthis type, even the most unskilled person can produce a lettering jobequal to the work of the most skillful painter.

Another important use of this invention is in connection with maskingoperations as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 shows two lettersor characters applied to a surface 18 which is to be decorated. Each ofthe letters or characters may comprise a backing sheet 6 carrying a film19 (Figure 5) in plain or decorated color (or merely transparent).Around the letters or characters is a border made up of a number ofstrips of backing sheets 6 to which a carrier film 7 and design has beenapplied in accordance with Figure 1.

. In Figure 5 the entire surface to bedecorated has been painted with acoating shown at 20. The backing strips 6 of the border and the lettersor design are now removed to expose the plain or decorated carrier film.essentially a transfer operation, but because of the fact that thebacking strips serve as masks for the transfer, a very clean cut pieceof work results, and special effects are possible which could notreadily be secured in any other way.

It will be obvious from the foregoing disclosure that Ihave provided anovel transfer susceptible use in a variety of new ways, and including,as one important factor, a carrier film and backing strip which arefiexible, transparent, mutually adherent and yet readily separablewithout the use of either heat I claim: 1. The method consists informing a ing sheet, rendering and removing the backing sheet whereby toexpose said film.

2. The method consists in applying a lacquer film to a paramn paperbacking sheet, supporting by said film a coloring material visibletherethrough, applying the color bearing film to the surface to bedecorated, painting said surface and the expom backing sheet, andstripping off said backing sheettoexpose saidfilmand the coloringcarried thereby.

FRANK KUBIN.

The operation is of decorating a surface, which

